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2010-11-16 - The Royal Arrival
Night has fallen in the shopping district, and many a business has shut its doors for the evening--and many that haven't are likely soon preparing to. The area is not so crowded as earlier in the day, as the shoppers--window and real--have mostly headed home. It is therefore moderately quiet--quiet enough that along one particular sidewalk, a person might perhaps hear noises coming from a back alley--the sniffling of a person who has been crying. After work, Will met Terra a little while ago for some evening shopping. He's found himself entranced by the shop windows, already preparing their displays for the upcoming holiday season. Many things about all this are confusing to him, however, and as he's never seen an actual picture of Santa Clause, though he's heard of the man in passing, he finds himself asking his sister as they pass another large window, "Who is the man in the red suit? He seems to be very popular... " "He's a symbol of the spirit of giving," Terra explains. "Young children are told their gifts come f..." And she tails off, her eyes moving to the alleyway. "Talking of young children..." Somebody's crying. And somebody's hurt. As the two near the alleyway, the sound of the tears slowly stops. The mind in the alley is not doing a good job of shielding emself at the moment--and thus, the two might possibly sense em in return...fear, grief, and anger. And if they can sense it...some power as well. Will cautiously follows his sister, lowering his shields as they approach the child. The emotions coming from the child are strong, and many of them are familiar. He glances at Terra, gauging her reaction before he makes any moves on his own. «He's been through something horrible...» he sends to Terra, surprise and sympathy tinging his mental voice. «« He's hurt. Mostly mental, but some physical too. »» Slowly, she steps into the alleyway. "Hey. We won't hurt you." Hopefully she can at least fix some of what ails the kid. The child in the alley is...well, one would guess unusual, though at first eir back is turned, eir form largely hidden by the golden cloak ey wears. As the two enter the alley, however, ey fully stands, speaking. "Iksou Kaumrael Elizraim Menai." The other emotions are replaced almost entirely by anger. Ey turns towards them, and there is something in eir hand--a flowing sort of metal, which forms swiftly into a golden spear with a black blade. The blade looks to be some sort of stone. At the same time, eir form seems to shimmer for a moment, and eir eyes shine--eir irises are silver, and his hair appears to be as well--and then, two silver-feathered wings unfold from under eir cloak. "Als lo kwadir danal, trefari ka voorer!" Ey points the spear at the two of them, warningly. One side of eir tunic is cut, and it appears the cut reached the skin beneath. The wound doesn't look bad. The blood...if that is what it is...is silvery as well. Will may have absolutely no clue what Elizraim is saying, or for that matter what ey's wearing. But he understands a commanding tone when he hears it. As the child speaks, he drops into a submissive posture without even thinking, hunching his shoulders and bending slightly at the waist. "P-please... " He offers quietly, "We just... want to help... " Terra Black spreads her hands. << He probably doesn't speak English, Will, and I don't know that I want to touch his mind yet, so keep it slow. >> Keeping her hands very visible, she approaches the alien...obviously alien...child slowly. Elizraim appears surprised, and then actually rather pleased with Will's reaction...but narrows eir eyes, and points the spear towards Terra--slowly, threatening, but not sure about fighting. Ey speaks again, more unfamiliar words, but eir tone is less angry, and more confused...wondering. Ey looks, oddly enough, at Terra and Will's hair, and the spear tip wavers. "Als betes paes Mioemet... Dodeich?" Ey frowns, gripping the spear harder, and a sort of realization comes to eir eyes. Ey speaks again, and though eir accent is quite strong, and the speech slow--as ey clearly has to think to remember--the words are now recognizable. "Hold...mortal. Be...be still." «Right, sorry.» Will holds his position, though he tenses in readiness when the spear is pointed at Terra. He remains in a half-bow, watching the spear and its owner for any signs that they might move aggressively. When the strange language becomes heavily-accented English he blinks, looking again to his sister. Terra Black lowers her hands slightly. She doesn't speak insultingly slowly, but does make sure her diction is very clear. "I'm a healer. Let me take a look. Please." She's not armed, but ey can likely sense her power. The spear remains raised, for several long moments, as Elizraim stares straight at her. But then, slowly, ey pulls it back, holding it to one side--still ready if needed, but not actively threatening. "I shall permit the healer to approach," ey says, uncertain, but still managing a semblance of a tone of authority. Ey looks briefly to Will. "The other...I shall permit no closer...on pain of death." Will is hesitant at first. He looks worriedly to Terra for a second, but after reminding himself that she can take care of herself even better than he can, he takes a couple of steps backward, nodding in acquiescence as he does so. «Do you think you can heal his wounds?» «« If it was anything complex or internal, I wouldn't try it. But surface wounds, I can handle. »» Terra moves forward, dropping to one knee next to the royal. "Doesn't seem that bad..." Although she'd love to know how a kid this age got slashed up with what looks suspiciously like a sword. Elizraim tenses as she approaches, but still doesn't move to strike. Ey has a death grip on that spear, though. "By chance was I struck, and lightly." Ey doesn't seem relaxed, but neither does ey seem as much like ey's expecting them to attack at any moment, thanks to Terra's slow and calm movements, and Will's continued obedience. "This land...this...this city. By what name is it called?" Remaining in place, Will watches Terra work from beneath lowered lashes. When the question is posed he takes it upon himself to answer, so that his sister does not have to multitask while in such a potentially dangerous situation. "This city is called New York." His voice is soft, holding a faint trace of a different accent than Terra's. Terra Black is...working. She's focusing on the cut that isn't regenerating...frowning a little. "I hope they didn't use poison." Because that would be a lot harder to deal with given this child's clearly not human. Elizraim frowns. "New York," ey repeats. Not a name ey recognizes from eir History of the Mortal World lessons. Ey allows Terra to work, regarding her with suspicion, especially as ey feels the tingling sensation caused by her power. "Question no more, healer. Work swiftly. I have but little patience this night." Ey looks back to Will again. "When this work is finished, you shall show me to an inn befitting my status." "Y-yes.. " Will is vaguely surprised by the order, mostly by the terms the child uses in giving it. He frowns a little, and takes a moment to think before venturing to ask, "If... you don't mind... I can do this most easily by knowing what exactly that status is?" «« There's no way they'll let him check in on his own, Will...great. And I think I know what happened to his parents. »» "Okay. That should do it." Terra steps back, away from the child. Who could also use some new clothes. Elizraim gives Will a rather shocked and appalled look, the kind of look one might give someone who took a look at Christmas signs and asked who the man in the red suit was. Ey's fortunately distracted for a moment by Terra's announcement, and inspects the now-missing injury. "Hm. Passable work, healer." Ey almost entirely stops the amazement from coming to eir voice. Now that eir side isn't killing em anymore, ey's able to stand taller, more formally, spreading eir wings and pulling back eir hood to show eir silver hair and the odd golden symbol on eir forehead--some sort of family crest? "I am the Kaumrael Elizraim Menai. The word...what is your word..." Ey frowns. "Yes...I am the crown prince." «I'm sorry... » Will swallows, eyes widening at both the statement and the child's revealing emself more fully. No, ey most definitely will not be accepted into a Hotel looking like that. Even if one could get past eir apparent age. Helplessly, he looks to his sister. "An Inn... might not be... fitting... your Highness." He offers hesitantly, while trying to think of some alternative. «« I wonder how mad dad would be if we just took him home. »» Terra lets out a breath. "No offense, your Highness, but you don't look much like a prince right now." Ey does still in his bearing, of course, but otherwise ey rather looks like a ragamuffin. Elizraim narrows eir eyes, clenching eir jaw. Ey glares at Terra for a moment, but visibly forces emself to calm. "Mind your tongue, healer." Ey looks to Will, again. "Are the mortals now so ill-mannered that an inn should refuse the Kaumrael? Have they no knowledge of their place?" Ey hmphs, and shakes eir head. "Speak, then. Where in this land will I find proper welcome?" Will glances at Terra, taking her suggestion. "If... if you like... you might come stay with us, until we can find you something better." Whenever that might be. "This... this land no longer serves a... Royal Family. They... gained independence a few centuries ago. The laws are... different now." Will is pretty sure that this child is not a member of the British Royal Family, but he hopes at least that these facts will help em to understand a little. Terra Black nods. "And they might not believe you, and then you'll be mad and they'll be mad and..." And the kid probably has enough power to zap some poor concierge into the middle of next week. And seems like the type to use it. Elizraim stands in silence, fuming. "No longer serves? Such indignity," ey finally says. For a moment, ey seems like he might refuse them despite eir obvious need, but somewhere underneath that arrogance, ey must indeed understand eir current position. "So be it. You shall escort me to your home, and provide me with a room. It shall have to do." "R-right." Will nods, and glances at Terra again. "T-this way... " He turns, and makes to leave the alley and head back to the street. «Where do you think he is from?» He asks his sister, «Do you think... we will be able to really help him?» Terra moves to a position kind of flanking Elizraim, but very slightly behind em...this way she can protect em but also not look like she's taking charge. «« He's obviously an alien. So, who better? »» Elizraim nods, and eir wings fold up--and then, suddenly, shrink away beneath the cloak again. For a moment, ey holds the spear still, and then, with a quick look at Terra, ey decides there's not quite enough of a present danger to risk drawing so much attention. The spear's form turns almost liquid again, and it flows onto eir arm, changing swiftly into a golden bracelet with a single stone set in it--onyx, maybe? Ey pulls eir hood on, and follows Will, striding in a dignified manner for all of two seconds...and then ey spots a car driving down the road in front of them, and in a flash ey has scampered back into the alley and has the spear right back in eir hands again, shaking visibly. "Wh...what was..." Will blinks, noting Eilzraim's sudden fear. Pausing, he looks back and blinks. "It... is only a car, your Highness... a... means of transportation." «He acts almost as though he is from this Planet's history. And he looks... almost like one of the Faeries from the stories of that history... » «« Could be. Stories sometimes have truth in them...which would mean we have to be careful with him. It's probably true that they have problems with cold iron. »» Nice wrong guess, Terra. "Relax. The cars won't hurt you unless you leap out in front of them or something stupid." To eir credit, Elizraim quickly adopts a calm pose--and ey's doing a better job of keeping his mental shields up now, too. Some of the surprise and fear is leaking out, still, but not as much. The mortals...they have grown stronger! What power did they harness to create such a thing? ey thinks. Ey stops a shiver, and slowly steps back out, the spear flowing into bracelet once more. "A...car. Very well...lead on, without further delay." As though Will and Terra had caused said delay, not em. Will nods to Terra, while Elizraim collects emself. Another nod is directed at the child when ey gives eir next order. «Should we try the subway, or do you think it would be too much?» He walks along the sidewalk, careful to keep a distance similar to that the child originally requested. «« No. He'd freak out...I wish dad was here. »» Because dad could, of course, teleport them home and that would be less scary for the kid. "Just relax. We won't let anything here hurt you." Elizraim hmphs. "I do not fear." Yes ey does. But pointing that out probably isn't a good idea. Ey regards the cars--as well as lighted signs, streetlamps, fire hydrants, and every other common, everyday modern thing--with the eye of a fighter watching eir foes carefully, and keeps eir distance from anything particularly unusual, notably stepping further from the road anytime a car comes by to make sure that the demon vehicle doesn't decide ey looks tasty...but ey manages to follow along regardless, staring about with a sort of stunned silence. Will keeps silent on the subject of Elizraim's fear. «A taxi would be most... expedient, but I doubt he would accept one.» So for now, he keeps to the sidewalks, avoiding busy intersections whenever possible and keeping away from as many of the crowds as he can. Thankfully, there are fewer people about at this time of day. Category:Logs